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The repertoire niches of interpersonal media: competition and coexistence at the level of the individual

University of Richmond, Virginia, USA, jfeaster{at}richmond.edu

The uses and gratifications approach has been useful in explaining media use by individuals. However, it has been limited in that the use of a medium has always been considered independently from other media options available and from use trends occurring at the level of a population. The theory of the niche has been used to partially overcome these limitations by examining uses and gratification concepts in the context of media competition; but, up to this point, it has only been used to explain trends at the system level. Through the introduction of repertoire niches, the present article extends the theory of the niche by examining competition at the level of the individual within the resource space of his/her media repertoire. Results indicate that repertoire niche dimensions of breadth, overlap, and superiority have some predictive power over media use.

Key Words: interpersonal media • uses and gratifications • media ecology • niche theory

New Media & Society, Vol. 11, No. 6, 965-984 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1461444809336549


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